Why is Sting a heel?

[Optimist Prime]

Sting is supposed to be a man of few words. You expected him to say more? He said it's because I hate you Hogan. What more do you need? Why did this thread start in the first place? People complain that storylines aren't built enough and they also complain when they haven't gotten an explanation yet. Follow the damn story. Don't expect beginnings and conclusions in the same show or even in the same month. If you want television a 5 year old can understand go watch WWE. If you want to think and involve yourself watch TNA.

I don't agree with either one of the arguers. I was a kid during the Hogan Era and I was a huge Ultimate Warrior fan. Prior to that I liked George The Animal Steele because he ate turnbuckles and I was a kid of course. I later went on to be an avid WCW supporter and now I'm a TNA "mark".

I already stated that Sting is my all time favorite. Noone can tell a story like Sting and he is great to good in the ring. Do you know who my 2nd favorite is? *points at his back* Rob Van Dam! That man has more charisma than any man in wrestling except maybe Hardy. You say they don't have a personality and I say they have the best personality available. Their personality can be explained in two words. Laid back.

Let's look at this in high school mechanics. A percentage of people in every classroom have the same type of personalities. In my school it was dominated by Jocks and Preps or the popular kids (Angle, Kennedy, Flair and the vast majority) but I think the 2nd largest demographic were the laid back people or maybe the stoners. Even though some people may look at that as no personality I look at it as my personality. If I was a wrestler I'd be Rob Van Dam. This is why dull people to you can be the most exciting people on the roster to others.

Doug Williams is junk on the mic because i hate his accent. I'm sure British people love him to death. I never liked Arn Anderson much even though I appreciated his talent. He gave off the redneck vibe on the mic. I still think in 6 months Hall will be the best on the mic again. You don't totally lose that kind of smoothness.

I love spot wrestling too. I had two goose bump moments last night watching Impact. One was obviously Sting standing face to face with Hulk Hogan. The other was MCMG blowing up on The Band. That was fuckin wicked. They kicked the shit out of those guys before they had the chance to blink. MCMG do have themselves some mic skills, but we never see it. We don't need to because what they do in the ring can get a bigger pop than anything that can be said on the mic. Hardy and RVD have that factor as well.

Another thing comes into play. RVD has better mannerisms than any of TNA's mic guys. Kennedy is close but some of his mannerisms come off a bit forced. Right now RVD can work a crowd better than Hulk Hogan and Hogan was the best at one point. The sad part is RVD can do it without saying a word. Start watching him a little more closely. He knows he has the crowd and he uses it. Those slight glances at the crowd over his shoulder while someone else is talking really gets them going somehow.

When RVD talks he always says pretty much the same thing because that's all his character requires. "Dude, I dont care, If you wanna fight then lets fight. I'm not getting myself worked up over ******ed ass drama". Now isn't that the attitude everyone wishes they could take into every situation? I love his character more than Sting's but I grew up with Sting so it's a bit different.

Hogan lost it on the mic but then again I always thought The Rock sucked. When it takes you 15 minutes to use all the same catch phrases you used last week then you get annoying after awhile. Something will be turned sideways by the end of this promo. Oh, there it is, it was a buffalo this time. When it comes to Hogan he doesnt have that exact problem he just has problems working to his points. I personally think its just rust. Bischoff had to save his ass the first few Impacts and now hes getting better. He was never great in the first place. Hogan just had the fans. He's still the best ever due to what that dude said earlier. He was the best bad guy and the best good guy of all time and both cases ignited both big boom periods in the sport.

Charisma is the most confusing thing in wrestling. It can come from many different angles but for some reason people focus on the mic skills category for charisma anymore. AJ Styles was voted favorite wrester in TNA for quite a few years straight. His moves popped the crowd. Sting became the most popular wrestler in the world when he didn't say a word or even make a facial expression. Hall was the best on the mic and he had the best facial expressions along with a decent move set and he never reached the pinnacle that AJ and Sting reached. Right now Jeff Hardy is one of the most popular wrestlers in the world so he has Charisma. Rob Van Dam gets louder pops than Hardy does. With more exposure RVD could eclipse Cena and become the most popular guy in the sport. RVD is Charisma.

Finally, somebody with some common sense. I thought this place was filled with 15 year olds who never experienced the glory days of wrestling or far older 40-something year olds who were too old to appreciate it.

I have to completely disagree with you on Rob Van Dam though. The guy is one of the most boring wrestlers of all time. People like him because of his name (Jean Claude) and because he's a passive stoner. That's about it. There really isn't much more to like about him. He's small, he's one of the most boring wrestlers to ever work the mic and he pretends he's hurt after every single move he does. He over exaggerates simple kicks by springing off the ropes to do them...its just all bad. People like him though...because he's never been a bad guy...he just mopes into the ring...over-exaggerates his maneuvers and then he's done.

The problem is they have a bunch of boring younger guys with a lot of talent (skill wise) but no personality...then they (TNA) go out and bring in 2 of the most boring personalities to ever exist in wrestling RVD and Jeff Hardy. They can wrestle...sure...but so can the kids in there...they need some personality...and less than 10% of the guys in there have it.

Sting on the other hand was amazing. His gimmick is great. Going from the surfer dude in the early 90's to the crow Sting that's more understandable today...great stuff. Plus, the guy never seems to age.

 

[AJM]

Optimist is so happy some other noob agrees with him. But to correct you...

The glory days of wrestling were the mid to late 80s minus what the WWF was doing with their cartoon characters at the time. You had NWA (Georgia & Mid-Atlantic), UWF (Mid South), AWA (Northern Territories), Florida Wrestling & World Class Championship Wrestling in Texas. When Vince declared war on the regions and start promoting throughout the country then cable television started broadcasting all of these promotions. It was great to see guys jump from territory to territory. It didn't last long because Vince put them all out of business with the family oriented cartoon product. The only thing that survived was WCW (formerly NWA). Yes, the 90s weren't bad when the Monday Night Wars started. WWF started their attitude era which was fun for a time. And yes the WCW/NWO angle was very good for about 2 years before it became stale. Then again the NWO became all about Hogan all of the time. At least he could still move around in the ring at that point though. But I never found him entertaining as a villain or a heel. What we have gotten in the last decade has been complete crap. I was hoping TNA could give us something different but the Hogan stuff is getting ridiculous. Still better than what WWE is giving us at this point though with celebrity guests, comedy segments & rookies running around the arena selling programs.

 

[AJM]

Sting on the other hand was amazing. His gimmick is great. Going from the surfer dude in the early 90's to the crow Sting that's more understandable today...great stuff. Plus, the guy never seems to age.

Once again you proved that you have no clue what you are talking about. Sting is not nearly the wrestler he was back in the day. Go watch a Flair/Sting match from the 90s compared to today. He has no muscle definition what so ever anymore and has to wrestle in a T-Shirt now. He doesn't look old because he paints his face and has lost 1/2 of his hair. This is not the Sting I remember. He basically just beats up people with his bat now which is what he started during his decline in WCW. He was always good on the mic but he hasn't been given the mic till this week and that angle came across very bad due to the fact it was poorly written plus he was in sharing mic time with Hogan. But I still don't mind seeing him in the ring because he doesn't look nearly as bad as Flair or Hogan. 10 years from now he'll be their age and hopefully will be retired with some dignity left.

 

[Optimist Prime]

Optimist is so happy some other noob agrees with him. But to correct you...

The glory days of wrestling were the mid to late 80s minus what the WWF was doing with their cartoon characters at the time. You had NWA (Georgia & Mid-Atlantic), UWF (Mid South), AWA (Northern Territories), Florida Wrestling & World Class Championship Wrestling in Texas. When Vince declared war on the regions and start promoting throughout the country then cable television started broadcasting all of these promotions. It was great to see guys jump from territory to territory. It didn't last long because Vince put them all out of business with the family oriented cartoon product. The only thing that survived was WCW (formerly NWA). Yes, the 90s weren't bad when the Monday Night Wars started. WWF started their attitude era which was fun for a time. And yes the WCW/NWO angle was very good for about 2 years before it became stale. Then again the NWO became all about Hogan all of the time. At least he could still move around in the ring at that point though. But I never found him entertaining as a villain or a heel. What we have gotten in the last decade has been complete crap. I was hoping TNA could give us something different but the Hogan stuff is getting ridiculous. Still better than what WWE is giving us at this point though with celebrity guests, comedy segments & rookies running around the arena selling programs.

Wrestling is entertainment. Everything is scripted. The moves are cool and they really cut themselves and hit each other with chairs...blah blah blah...but for the most part...it's just as arbitrary as a broadway show in some ways.

The "cartoon characters" you speak of made the wrestling business boom and everybody (other than you and a few other older people) absolutely loved it. It became a multi-million dollar business.

I mean I can't really blame you...if I were older around that time I probably would have hated everything changing too. But I wasn't.

Wrestling in the times you were describing were mainly watched by rednecks and southern folk and looked down upon by the white collar people. Who were the most popular guys even back then? The guys with somewhat of a "cartoon gimmick" an Indian Chief, an "Animal" who bit the turnbuckle, a Giant, etc. Why? Because it was much more entertaining to kids and others than having a regular boring old Bob Backlund in blue tights give an atomic drop. Even his name puts me to sleep. They unfortunately reverted back to this way these days with "John Cena" and "Evan Bourne" and other boring names like that. Except now, you don't even have the personalities to go with it! Now you have a boring name in a boring regular outfit with the same entrance music as the next guy...AND no personality! WWE is surviving strictly on reputation right now. Nobody likes their product...the little kids do because it's something else and it's wrestling. Anybody with half a brain doesn't like it.

You're right. It has been absolute crap the past 10 years. Because there was no competition for the most part. Even when WCW was still there at the end it was awful...because everybody left basically and you had Booker T and Chris Benoit as champions. Not because Hogan had too much time. When Hogan was in NWO it was at its best. Once Russo came in and started pushing all these boring guys (Benoit, Booker T, etc.) then the fanbase started to drop. Those guys are not top draws.

Also, both companies started throwing the world title belt around like it was water...so all of the other belts then became entirely irrelevant.

Wrestling needs a jolt...it certainly isn't Hogan prancing around the ring 24/7...but it certainly isn't The Pope cleaning house in the ring either...

 

[Optimist Prime]

Once again you proved that you have no clue what you are talking about. Sting is not nearly the wrestler he was back in the day. Go watch a Flair/Sting match from the 90s compared to today. He has no muscle definition what so ever anymore and has to wrestle in a T-Shirt now. He doesn't look old because he paints his face and has lost 1/2 of his hair. This is not the Sting I remember. He basically just beats up people with his bat now which is what he started during his decline in WCW. He was always good on the mic but he hasn't been given the mic till this week and that angle came across very bad due to the fact it was poorly written plus he was in sharing mic time with Hogan. But I still don't mind seeing him in the ring because he doesn't look nearly as bad as Flair or Hogan. 10 years from now he'll be their age and hopefully will be retired with some dignity left.

Well if we're going to pull out the magnifying glass and dissect every little thing like "muscle definition" that despite you following up with "he has to wear a shirt to wrestle" somehow also have been able to see underneath it in order to know the status of his muscle definition...

...Sting is 51 years old. Hogan is 56 years old. In 10 years he will be Flair's age...but he's only 5 years younger than Hogan.

Also, Kevin Nash and Scott Hall are also Sting's same age.

 

[AJM]

Wrestling is entertainment. Everything is scripted. The moves are cool and they really cut themselves and hit each other with chairs...blah blah blah...but for the most part...it's just as arbitrary as a broadway show in some ways.

The "cartoon characters" you speak of made the wrestling business boom and everybody (other than you and a few other older people) absolutely loved it. It became a multi-million dollar business.

I mean I can't really blame you...if I were older around that time I probably would have hated everything changing too. But I wasn't.

Wrestling in the times you were describing were mainly watched by rednecks and southern folk and looked down upon by the white collar people. Who were the most popular guys even back then? The guys with somewhat of a "cartoon gimmick" an Indian Chief, an "Animal" who bit the turnbuckle, a Giant, etc. Why? Because it was much more entertaining to kids and others than having a regular boring old Bob Backlund in blue tights give an atomic drop. Even his name puts me to sleep. They unfortunately reverted back to this way these days with "John Cena" and "Evan Bourne" and other boring names like that. Except now, you don't even have the personalities to go with it! Now you have a boring name in a boring regular outfit with the same entrance music as the next guy...AND no personality! WWE is surviving strictly on reputation right now. Nobody likes their product...the little kids do because it's something else and it's wrestling. Anybody with half a brain doesn't like it.

You're right. It has been absolute crap the past 10 years. Because there was no competition for the most part. Even when WCW was still there at the end it was awful...because everybody left basically and you had Booker T and Chris Benoit as champions. Not because Hogan had too much time. When Hogan was in NWO it was at its best. Once Russo came in and started pushing all these boring guys (Benoit, Booker T, etc.) then the fanbase started to drop. Those guys are not top draws.

Also, both companies started throwing the world title belt around like it was water...so all of the other belts then became entirely irrelevant.

Wrestling needs a jolt...it certainly isn't Hogan prancing around the ring 24/7...but it certainly isn't The Pope cleaning house in the ring either...

Once again you are stereotyping. I'm from the Northeast and by far not a redneck. All of the regions other than the WWF were entertaining at the time. But the NWA was the best & it had nothing to do with the southern wrestlers or redneck aspect as you say. All of the wrestlers in that time could do great promos. Flair, Dusty, Arn, Tully Blanchard, Magnum T.A., Cornette & later on Sting. The Four Horsemen were the original gang of wrestling and better than the NWO ever had hoped to be or ever were. Now I'm talking the original 4 not later incarnations. Although the group was probably at it's best when Windham replaced Luger.

Seeing Hogan turn heel with the NWO was interesting at first because it had never been done. But let's face it. The NWO was cool because of Hall & Nash and the whole "outsider" angle. I don't think Hogan could have pulled off the heel gimmick with Beefcake & Knobbs at his side. Hogan just leeched off Hall & Nash's persona and tried to look cool with them. It never worked for me. Again it all goes back on whether a guy can pull off a good promo and Hogan never could and still can't. What WCW really had going for them is that they were plucking the WWF & ECW roster on a weekly basis. Each week you didn't know who was going to show up. What really screwed up the NWO is that half the roster was NWO at one point. It lost a lot of luster after Virgil, Bryan Adams, the Bossmans and those types of guys were in the group.

 

[Optimist Prime]

Once again you are stereotyping. I'm from the Northeast and by far not a redneck. All of the regions other than the WWF were entertaining at the time. But the NWA was the best & it had nothing to do with the southern wrestlers or redneck aspect as you say. All of the wrestlers in that time could do great promos. Flair, Dusty, Arn, Tully Blanchard, Magnum T.A., Cornette & later on Sting. The Four Horsemen were the original gang of wrestling and better than the NWO ever had hoped to be or ever were. Now I'm talking the original 4 not later incarnations. Although the group was probably at it's best when Windham replaced Luger.

Seeing Hogan turn heel with the NWO was interesting at first because it had never been done. But let's face it. The NWO was cool because of Hall & Nash and the whole "outsider" angle. I don't think Hogan could have pulled off the heel gimmick with Beefcake & Knobbs at his side. Hogan just leeched off Hall & Nash's persona and tried to look cool with them. It never worked for me. Again it all goes back on whether a guy can pull off a good promo and Hogan never could and still can't. What WCW really had going for them is that they were plucking the WWF & ECW roster on a weekly basis. Each week you didn't know who was going to show up. What really screwed up the NWO is that half the roster was NWO at one point. It lost a lot of luster after Virgil, Bryan Adams, the Bossmans and those types of guys were in the group.

I agree. Promo's were entirely different back in the "cartoon era" though. Hogan actually cut a pretty decent promo compared to some of the other guys during that era. It's just when you compare it to some of the guys in the 90's and a few others that were really good at it...it looks that much worse.

As a bad guy, you're right. It absolutely never would have worked without Hall and Nash...but that's like saying "Hogan would have never became popular without (enter name or company or whatever here)" There will always be some uncontrollable entity or circumstance that helps people along the way. That's just how life is. It worked for Hogan and I thought it was amazing. He literally was the biggest icon in wrestling...he was the biggest thing it's ever seen...and here he was using it as a heel gimmick perfectly. His promos with the NWO were great...the NWO was incredible...but you're right...they eventually made it way too big and began using it as a gimmick generator. Nash said it best in an interview once "NWO was great...but then all of the sudden if they couldn't think of an angle for certain people...they would just throw them in the NWO" That ruined it and once the NWO started becoming "good guys"...that continued to ruin it. The split was cool at first but you knew right then and there...there wasn't much after that you could do. Then they started making Flair a bad guy with "lil naitch" with all the other guys that were just recently the "faces of WCW" fighting against the NWO and it just didn't work that quickly. There seemed to be little to no transition so it failed. Then almost immediately after that you had the big guys that you saw with the belt every week dwindle away and see all these mid carters, cruiserweights, and half of decadent tag teams winning the world title without any real transition either.

It was just a recipe for disaster. It wasn't because Hogan ran the show. It wasn't because of one person. Collectively, everything just fell apart. The NWO, Sting, Goldberg, etc. gimmicks were so big and so powerful...that it was almost impossible to top it or even make an easy transition into something that the fans could understand. So it failed. It's pretty simple.

Dixie Carter and company grabbed Hogan for his star power. They didn't grab him for his behind the scenes booking strategies. Therefore, he does little-to-no good at all if he doesn't come out on screen. It's not his ego keeping him out on screen...that's literally what they got him for...and all of the fans are misinterpreting it and actually perhaps causing it to backfire. Whether a lot of you guys like it or not...Hulk Hogan is the biggest name to ever be in professional wrestling and all TNA and Hogan were trying to do...is capitalize on him being there. I agree he is out there WAY too much and it's bad...but they got him to be out there at least a little bit...otherwise there was no reason for him at all and they could have continued being a "powerplant" for the WWE instead...which is probably what would have happened.

 

[AJM]

I'm sorry but I can't continue to debate you on this Hogan subject. Every time you post something it turns into a Hogan suckfest. It's obvious to everyone you REALLY LIKE Hulk Hogan. We get it. Some of us feel otherwise. Hogan ruined wrestling for me on more than one occasion. I have gotten so fed up with him that I stopped watching. I stopped watching the WWF in the 80s. WCW in the 90s & now will probably stop watching TNA because of that douche.

 

[Optimist Prime]

I'm sorry but I can't continue to debate you on this Hogan subject. Every time you post something it turns into a Hogan suckfest. It's obvious to everyone you REALLY LIKE Hulk Hogan. We get it. Some of us feel otherwise. Hogan ruined wrestling for me on more than one occasion. I have gotten so fed up with him that I stopped watching. I stopped watching the WWF in the 80s. WCW in the 90s & now will probably stop watching TNA because of that douche.

I'm just more rational than you are. You've constantly liked "the underdog" for whatever reason...maybe it had some personal metaphor for you or something...and didn't know how to explain the constant boom everywhere you looked...so an easy fix was to blame Hogan. One single person. Because, regardless of whether or not it makes sense (because one man being so powerful to where he takes over 3 different companies all by himself and ruins everything just clearly doesn't make sense) you can't rationalize it...so you've convinced yourself of this nonsense and I guess there's no convincing you otherwise. Oh well.

I don't love Hogan. I did love Hogan. As I've stated, I don't think he should be on tv as much. I'm giving both sides using rational thought, logic and reasoning. You, on the other hand, created some bias and hatred against him long ago and refuse to use logic and reasoning.

One man controlling the universe all by himself without anybody saying or doing anything ever for 20 years just doesn't make sense. It would never happen. It hasn't happened...and it never will happen.

I think it's more that you hate Hogan for reasons you've conjured in your head...rather than me "REALLY LIKING" him.

By the way, I'm sure they don't care if you stop watching. Because so far...you hated everything that made them all millions of dollars. And I'm sure that if they had the choice laid out on the table in front of them:

"Hundreds of Millions of Dollars" or "Pleasing just AJM and no one else"

I'm 100% positive they would take the former and leave you high and dry every day of the week.

 

[AJM]

I'm just more rational than you are. You've constantly liked "the underdog" for whatever reason...maybe it had some personal metaphor for you or something...and didn't know how to explain the constant boom everywhere you looked...so an easy fix was to blame Hogan. One single person. Because, regardless of whether or not it makes sense (because one man being so powerful to where he takes over 3 different companies all by himself and ruins everything just clearly doesn't make sense) you can't rationalize it...so you've convinced yourself of this nonsense and I guess there's no convincing you otherwise. Oh well.

I don't love Hogan. I did love Hogan. As I've stated, I don't think he should be on tv as much. I'm giving both sides using rational thought, logic and reasoning. You, on the other hand, created some bias and hatred against him long ago and refuse to use logic and reasoning.

One man controlling the universe all by himself without anybody saying or doing anything ever for 20 years just doesn't make sense. It would never happen. It hasn't happened...and it never will happen.

I think it's more that you hate Hogan for reasons you've conjured in your head...rather than me "REALLY LIKING" him.

By the way, I'm sure they don't care if you stop watching. Because so far...you hated everything that made them all millions of dollars. And I'm sure that if they had the choice laid out on the table in front of them:

"Hundreds of Millions of Dollars" or "Pleasing just AJM and no one else"

I'm 100% positive they would take the former and leave you high and dry every day of the week.

I've come to the realization that you think the Hulkster invented wrestling & you are either Eric Bischoff, his son Nick or Brooke's used tampon...

 

[burnout4200]

I was a tiny bit depressed for awhile because I thought Sting lost it. My favorite guy kept going past his prime. Kind of like when my Emmit Smith went to The Cardinals. Then I saw Sting wrestle AJ Styles and the match where he lost the title to Styles in a multi man match. Sting's still got it, there's no doubt in my mind anymore.

Some friends give me shit over watching wrestling as I'm sure we've all experienced. A friend of mine use to say "That wrestling shit sucks ... well except Rob Van Dam". The first time you see Rolling Thunder you mark out. Split legged moonsault, corkscrew legdrop on the guard rail, VanDaminator, 5 Star Frog Splash, VanTerminator, and any of his spring board kicks, they are wow moves. RVD makes those moves look easy and that transfers into his personality. The over exaggerations that you speak of are one of my favorite parts about him. Scott Hall and Shawn Micheals were the best at that. It adds alot to his performance and when he hits the five star it looks like he broke a rib every time. Do people want to see Jackie Chan just kick somebody or do they want to see him do some flippity do da shit then land the kick? It's entertainment. Besides if you're going to watch wrestling into adult hood you're most likely a pothead. You gotta be on drugs to enjoy half the crap they air on television.

The "glory days" are refereed to by most as the days when things were less popular which equals less drama being involved. Green Day's glory days were in the 90's even though they sell way more now. When Hogan was on top in WWF they got significant gains in viewership and reached the mainstream. When Hogan was on top in WCW wrestling had more viewers than any other period. Hogan wasn't just the champion during those times ... he was the focal point. The way it happened, the way it ended, or how much it entertained any of us doesn't matter. Name value is more important than talent because people want something they can familiarize themselves with. Unfortunately now a familiarization with Hulk Hogan is cluttered with his personal life thanks to Hogan Knows Best. That show cost him some steam.

 

[gd]

The show being centered around Sting not saying anything isn't anything new. Remember a few years ago when he did it? Ya, it was stupid back then too. Only the lights went out more often and he was in the rafters a lot, so it seemed a lot better than this time around.

Other than the bat swinging rampage on 3/8, Sting hasn't really done that much heelish stuff. He's fought Jarrett in the stands for like a month straight, but Jarrett is sort of a prick so that doesn't really count.

The Hogan/Sting promo to end the show made Sting look like much more of a face than Hogan. Everything he was saying basically made sense and was about for the good of the compnay and what have you. Hogan responed by saying basically nothing of note and then the show ended. I don't get it. Another case of TNA being completely schizophrenic with their booking.

 

[WorldHeavyweightChampion]

Turning Sting heel is even dumber than turning Ricky Steamboat heel.

Sting has been a face and a true fan favorite since 1987 when he came to the NWA (JCP) from the UWF. He began to step into legendary status in his 45-minute match with Ric Flair at Clash of the Champions 1 for the World Heavyweight Title, and even moreso when he dethroned Flair at the Great American Bash 1990 (the biggest and loudest pop EVER in wrestling after he won that match). I became a Sting fan in the late 80's, and even moreso after he was kicked out of the 4-Horsemen at CotC 10 in February '90.

During Sting's time out for his knee surgery in 1990 letters from fans POURED in wishing Sting a speedy recovery. His popularity had skyrocketed not just because the man has charisma greater and connection with the fans than anyone else the business has ever seen, but he did SO much for kids and charities (like Make-A-Wish and Starlight) and the parents and kids love him. Hogan may be known well mainstream, but within wrestling NOBODY has been more popular than Sting (that includes Steamboat, Dusty Rhodes, Magnum T.A., Bruno Sammartino, Lou Thesz, etc...).

Sting won Most Popular Wrestler of the Year far more times than Hogan, and was even runner-up more times than Hogan won. Not only that, but EVERY time Sting wrestled Hogan (even before the Crow and the nWo) Sting beat him - Sting is undefeated against Hogan! In their first match on Nitro in 1995 both were faces, yet the entire building was booing Hogan and cheering Sting!

Sting is the icon he is because of the man Steve Borden is.

Come on! WCW tried to turn him and us fans continued to cheer him, and same thing happened when TNA tried it with the MEM. If WCW had any idea of turning the fans against him after WCW betrayed him with the nWo fake Sting, look at what was the hottest EVER going in pro-wrestling - all those Monday Nitros with fans waiting for (Crow) Sting to appear and beat the crap out of the nWo. Heck, on more than one occasion he beat the ENTIRE group (yes, including Hogan, Hall, Nash, and Savage) single-handed.

TNA, stop it! Turn Sting back into a face! I will cheer Sting no matter what, but TNA needs to finally do something right and keep Sting a face!

 

[AmericanDragonSW]

Agreed on the Ricky Steamboat part. Steamboat was never once a heel and I would have liked to think that Sting was the same way. This is only the 3rd time that they made Sting a heel or tried to make him one and like all the others, it either doesn't work or makes no sense to anybody. The fact that TNA thought they could pull it off a 2nd time is a joke. WCW tried it and it lasted about 3 months at most. TNA tried it with the Main Even Mafia and that didn't work because he still got cheered. This, it's worse because there's no motive to it. He beat up RVD, grabbed Dixie Carter by the throat, and laid out Jeff Jarrett. Why? Because he can? That's garbage. And then they keep up the whole "I don't owe an explanation" That's even worse. It's not working. Either give us an explanation to his actions or knock it off because right now all it's doing is insulting the intelligence of wrestling fans. Some guys just can't pull off being a heel. They tried it in WCW with Goldberg and that didn't work either. This is one thing that TNA is doing wrong with Sting that needs to be fixed and SOON.

 

[medz]

why would they wanna turn sting hee he is a icon a legend, he can't turn heel, he has to much respect of the fans, when you wrestle for over 20 years night in night out in a onsistently high level fans are not gonna turn on you, but to answer the question, i don't think he is a heel, he is just a heel to anybody associated to hogan and that is all.

 

[GameOver]

I actually think Burnout is right. Anyone saying they didn't think Sting had a good enough response wasn't listening. It's very simple. Sting hates Hogan no matter what. Whether Hogan is a good guy or a bad guy Sting hates the man. Because of what he did in WCW and Sting sees the possibility of it happening again and decides to stop it by just attacking Hogan and his freinds no matter who they are regardles if Hogan's intentions in TNA are to play fair and try to help the company or if Hogan wasnts to recreate a WCW/nWo scenario again. As for him alligning with Flair recently, it's a situation of the enemy of my enemy is my friend.

Pretty much it rolled into one statement. Onscreen it's no doubt his character feels shit on that he helped put TNA on the map, and they bring Hogan in, a man who Sting has no love for personally, and a man who had a big impact in WCW's demise with the nWo killing WCW storyline or something to that effect

What gets me though in a Mike Adamle moment, the promo's about only now has Sting's evil side come out in his 20yrs of competing? HUH?
A) hes been a heel numerous times, the first most noteworthy was in 1999 and unless my maths is really bad that's only 11years ago. LOL
B) He was a tweener Heel in TNA with his fued with AJ styles over respect lol
hmm that was only a few years ago

Maybe i just got in confused and Jarrett was talking about his actions towards Jarrett/Dixie specifically and nothing else

 

[MancMark]

Getting people to boo Sting was never going to be easy. He's my favourite wrestler of all time, and I've met him more than once. The thing is, he's just a nice guy. People don't buy into the heel thing unfortunately. Even if they reach the point where people boo in the Impact Zone, as soon as they take it on tour, people will pop for him again like there's no tomorrow.

The final beating of JJ was orchestrated quite well though I thought. That seemed like a dirty thing to do, and hopefully it got over better. I don't think they necessarily have to give a reason for what he's doing, as long as he's beating the crap out of the baby faces week in and week out. Right now though, it's not really working is it?

 

[klunderbunker]

Well at the moment it's because none of the other heels are over. Sting is the only person on the roster that is a main event level heel with anything resembling credibility. While I think turning him was just another boneheaded move on Russo's part as Sting is still one of the most popular guys in the company, apparently it's a good thing as everyone not named Sting in the main event is now a face, unless Orlando Jordan is second or third heel now? Oh that's right: AJ. He's had his time with RVD so now it has to be Sting, simply through a lack of anyone else.

 

[It's...Baylariat!]

Lets hit this from a different angle. See... I remember an interview with Ric Flair from either his DVD or a shoot interview where he said that the reason that Ricky Steamboat was great, but not legendary was because he didn't work heel. He only worked as a face. And yes, the best face around during his time, but nonetheless, was never a heel.

Sting is in that same boat up until now. He's always been a face or tweener leaning toward face. If his heel push ends up a failure, does this affect Sting's aura in pro wrestling? Does he go down a notch on the legend pole because he wasn't a successful heel? What are your thoughts?

 

[Monkey_Mania]

Lets hit this from a different angle. See... I remember an interview with Ric Flair from either his DVD or a shoot interview where he said that the reason that Ricky Steamboat was great, but not legendary was because he didn't work heel. He only worked as a face. And yes, the best face around during his time, but nonetheless, was never a heel.

Sting is in that same boat up until now. He's always been a face or tweener leaning toward face. If his heel push ends up a failure, does this affect Sting's aura in pro wrestling? Does he go down a notch on the legend pole because he wasn't a successful heel? What are your thoughts?

Do I think it will hurt his legacy? Yes. Coming from a huge Sting mark such as myself, it's almost impossible for me to say that. Although nobobdy believes Sting as a heel. There is only one person who can make the fans believe that Sting is a heel, and that is Sting himself. If he doesnt give his all to this role it will severely tarnish his legacy. Who knows how long Sting has left in him, but does he really want to be remembered as the guy who was a heel and couldnt get over? Or does he want to be remembered as one of the most over guys in the history of the business?

The choice is literally his.

 

[Optimist Prime]

Do I think it will hurt his legacy? Yes. Coming from a huge Sting mark such as myself, it's almost impossible for me to say that. Although nobobdy believes Sting as a heel. There is only one person who can make the fans believe that Sting is a heel, and that is Sting himself. If he doesnt give his all to this role it will severely tarnish his legacy. Who knows how long Sting has left in him, but does he really want to be remembered as the guy who was a heel and couldnt get over? Or does he want to be remembered as one of the most over guys in the history of the business?

The choice is literally his.

Sting was literally a heel not too long ago when he was in the Main Event Mafia. Sting was also a heel back towards the end of WCW when Hogan reclaimed his red and yellow attire. In fact, it was almost the same exact gimmick he has right now.

I actually like it and I'll tell you why. He doesn't seem to be a heel so to speak. These days...the faces are only popular among little kids. And even the faces have heelish behavior these days (thanks to the Attitude Era, the NWO, and mid-late 90's in general). His gimmick is actually different from everyones elses because he may no longer be a face...but he's not your typical "heel" either. While he may have joined with Ric Flair...he seems to have that "nomad" feel to him where he doesn't listen to anybody and does things on his own terms. This is quite contrary to the Ric Flairs, AJ Styles, or other heels that are in your face chirping about this or complaining about being screwed, etc. Unlike his initial Crow style gimmick where he was a fan favorite who was mistaken, mistrusted, but still fought for WCW...this Sting seems to have the similar mysterious and reclusive demeanor but without that same loyalty to TNA or anybody else. Luger and most of his buddies are gone...WCW no longer exists...so he has no reason to fight for anybody but himself.

I think it's a pretty decent gimmick. And at the very least...I would change just about any other gimmick in TNA right now before I touched Sting's.